1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains generally to fingering and other tonal control devices such as stopping fingers or blocks for stringed musical instruments, and more particularly to such a device having an improved surface treatment, yielding an improved tonality and sustain. In one embodiment, a conical body fabricated from a base material and then treated tapers from the base to a narrower end at the fingertip. In another embodiment of the present invention, a body with a domed end is fabricated from a base material and then treated to provide a guitar slide. In yet another embodiment of the invention, a variety of guitar components that come into contact with a guitar string are preferably treated, including for exemplary purposes the frets and string saddle.
2. Description of the Related Art
While mankind has certainly always needed to pursue the basic necessities, life is much easier and more enjoyable when simple pleasures are included. Perhaps with man's first breaths came the realization that he had the capacity to produce sound, and with those first sounds, music was born. Throughout the ages, a wide variety of instruments have been developed to extend and enhance the auditory pleasures, each with unique sounds and characteristics.
Many of these ancient and modern instruments have strings that are tensioned. For many centuries, stringed musical instruments have brought pleasure to musicians and audiences alike. In accord with well-known physical laws and theories, these strings resonate when struck, plucked or otherwise disturbed. The frequency of resonance, which we know commonly as the note being played, is determined primarily by the free length of the string and the tension within the string. Different sounds originate from differing string materials and thicknesses or diameters.
Since music is often more enjoyable with some degree of variability and complexity, many stringed musical instruments have been designed to permit the musician to change one or both of the length and tension of the strings, and to thereby vary the frequency or tone produced when the string is disturbed or plucked. For exemplary purposes, most modern guitars have a fretted fingerboard that allows the musician to press down on a string at different positions along the string and thereby capture the string between the finger and fret, and in so doing, selectively vary the note that the string produces when plucked or otherwise disturbed. In addition to directly, manually pressing on the string, other adjunctive devices have been designed such as slides. Slides are most commonly designed to be held against one or more strings, and the slide can be not only pressed against and withdrawn from the strings, but also slid about to vary the sound as desired, for example to produce a glissando sound.
One challenge associated with guitar parts in contact with the string is the absorption of string vibration which shortens note length or duration, referred to as sustain. Even minute losses of sustain are highly disdained by guitarists and music enthusiasts alike.
Many types of slides have been used to obtain the slide blues sound on the guitar. This technique was developed from early one-stringed instruments, where the player would use a rock or pill bottle as a slider. Guitar players later used knives or broken-off necks of bottles.
Exemplary U.S. patents showing early conceptions, the teachings of each which are incorporated herein by reference, include U.S. Pat. No. 587,089 by Duck, entitled “Musical instrument”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,259,062 by Wilber, entitled “Stringed musical instrument”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,280,858 by Russell, entitled “Hawaiian guitar steel”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,280,959 by Campton, entitled “Guitar steel”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,302,451 by Tanquary, entitled “Fretting device for musical instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,342,718 by Neft, entitled “Steel for guitars”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,372,254 by Shutt, entitled “Glass tone-bar for playing the guitar and similar stringed musical instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,492,274 by Sullivan, entitled “Bar for stringed instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,601,429 by Carpenter, entitled “Steel for musical instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,618,884 by Meyer, entitled “Bar for guitars”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,691,945 by Timm, entitled “Fingering steel for guitars and similar stringed instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,748,053 by Blair, entitled “Apparatus for playing stringed instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,834,252 by Morgan, entitled “Guitar tone bar”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,837,270 by Kailimai, entitled “Steel for stringed musical instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,904,335 by Stevens, entitled “Tone bar”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,909,456 by Carter, entitled “Steel for guitars and the like”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,926,561 by Schrickel, entitled “Guitar attachment”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,021,641 by Spina, entitled “Finger bar for use with stringed musical instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,025,786 by Spina, entitled “Finger bar for use with stringed musical instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,026,354 by Mihalek, entitled “Tone bar for stringed musical instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,027,937 by Schrickel, entitled “Tone bar”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,030,241 by Comons, entitled “Playing bar for hawaiian steel guitars”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,082,683 by Carter, entitled “Steel for musical instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,184,733 by Burgien, entitled “Steel for musical instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,186,399 by Abbott, entitled “Guitar steel”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,195,521 by Rebsamen, entitled “Musical instrument”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,203,466 by Lawrence, entitled “Steel for hawaiian guitars”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,248,542 by McDaniel et al, entitled “Fingering steel for guitars”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,392,937 by McDaniel, entitled “Hawaiian electric guitar steel”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,416,854 by Smith, entitled “Steel for hawaiian guitars”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,435,512 by Richmond, entitled “Guitar steel”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,441,713 by Miller, entitled “Bar or slide for playing certain musical instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,449,032 by Yates, entitled “Playing bar”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,466,344 by Wright, entitled “Guitar steel”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,485,108 by Peasley, entitled “Guitar bar or steel having a rotating contact face”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,490,517 by Garcia, entitled “Tone bar for guitars and the like”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,490,865 by Engles, entitled “Bar for stringed instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,493,698 by Schwartz, entitled “Thimble grip swivel bar for guitars”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,496,191 by Zipperstein et al, entitled “Guitar steel”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,647,429 by Smith, entitled “Guitarist's steel bar”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,650,513 by Miller, entitled “Guitar steel”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,194,104 by Rhodes et al, entitled “Playing bar for electric stringed musical instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,386,325 by Smith, entitled “Slide bar for hawaiian guitar”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,457,822 by Mull, entitled “Steel guitar, steels and method”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,629 by Smith, entitled “Slide bar apparatus for guitar”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,368 by Pogan, entitled “Finger mountable guitar string contact device”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,945 by Pettijohn, entitled “Hand held chord fingering device for guitar”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,894 by Clough, Jr., entitled “Musical slide”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,659 by Tumminaro, entitled “Electrified guitar accessory”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,780 by Smith, entitled “Method and apparatus for stabilizing the tension of musical instrument strings”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,733 by Smith, entitled “Slide bar holder device for Hawaiian guitar”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,682 by Bozung, entitled “Automatic chording device for guitars and similiar instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,934 by Keizer, entitled “Capo-tremolo-slide attachment for guitars”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,488 by de los Santos, entitled “Guitar slide bar apparatus”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,891 by Baker, entitled “Slide bar for stringed musical instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,046 by Jimenez, entitled “Finger-mounted, rotatable slide for a stringed musical instrument”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,762 by Perkins et al, entitled “Guitar slide”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,944 by Grossman, entitled “Finger-controlled means for contacting strings on a guitar”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,856 by Story, entitled “Slide system for a stringed musical instrument”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,111,177 by Pattillo, entitled “Slide bar devices and assemblies”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,160,212 by Morse, entitled “Guitar slide”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,242,676 by Romero, entitled “Stringed instrument slide”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,297,435 by Gutowski, entitled “Method and apparatus for manually modulating wavelength and manipulating sound for stringed instruments”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,369,307 by Wells, entitled “Device for forming chords”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,734,349 by Adams, entitled “Fingertip musical tap assembly”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,375,268 by Thornhill, entitled “Machine with which stringed instruments will be picked or plucked”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,557,283 by Moncrief, entitled “Guitar slide”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,572,964 by Sundby, entitled “Guitar-slide ring”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,829,774 by Moncrief, entitled “Guitar slide”; Des 222,111 by De Masi, entitled “Chord-producing finger bar for a stringed musical instrument or similar article”; Des 248,122 by Heet, entitled “Hand held musical string vibration initiator and sustainer”; and Des 360,647 by Jimenez, entitled “Slide guide for guitar”.
In addition to the shape, the material used in the string, the slide and other components in contact with the string will also substantially change the sound of the instrument. Additionally, the surface finish will also alter the sound. Nearly all of these aforementioned prior art devices are fabricated from a single homogenous material such as wood, steel, brass, bronze, porcelain or glass, though a few of the slides also propose various plastics, ceramics or even a felt or rubber contact surface. Modern guitar players still use wine bottle tops. Various other materials have been used, such as metal socket wrenches or plexi-glass slides. The various materials and surface finishes give different sounds and feels to the player. For exemplary purposes, glass is commonly recognized as producing a purer and cleaner sound, while metal is more of a “dirty” or “blues” sound.
Many attempts have been made to improve upon these traditional devices. One device, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,741,065 to Harris, issued Jun. 26, 1973 and entitled “Guitar slide bar apparatus”, the contents and teachings which are incorporated herein by reference, shows an outwardly tapering body which is wider at the finger tip end. This device teaches removable inserts for finger sizing. A convex slide is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,382 to Hein, III, et al., issued Nov. 13, 1990 and entitled “Pitch changing device for guitar”, the contents and teachings which are incorporated herein by reference. The convex exterior is designed for selectively depressing certain strings. Once again it does not have the naturally tapered shape of the finger and plays differently from traditional slides.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,073,331 by Allen, entitled “Tone bar” the contents and teachings which are incorporated herein by reference, proposes a fiber sleeve surrounding a heavy metal bar, the purpose which is disclosed as “eliminating the raucous metallic sound usually produced”.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,638,525 by Sciurba et al, entitled “Finger glide bar”, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,527 by Harrison, entitled “Micro smooth guitar slide”, the contents and teachings which are incorporated herein by reference, each teach a highly polished surface such as by plating and polishing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,036 by Monaco, entitled “Bottleneck slide bar with sectors of different materials”, the contents and teachings which are incorporated herein by reference, describes a slide made from a plurality of different materials joined to form a hollow cylinder. Sounds characteristic of each material may then be produced, and unique sounds are achieved at the interface between two adjacent and different materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,476,792 by Musser, entitled “Versatile finger ring guitar slide with variable bar length”, the contents and teachings which are incorporated herein by reference, proposes a hard smooth surface “formed from glass or similarly hard material including ceramic, jade and other stone-like coating. While an improvement, the Musser patent teaches the combination of hard and smooth surfaces, and is thereby limited.
In addition to the foregoing documents, U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,527 entitled “Guitar slide” and U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,778 entitled “Guitar slide” by the present inventor are also incorporated herein by reference in entirety. Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition copyright 1983, is also incorporated herein by reference in entirety for the definitions of words and terms used herein.